


nightmares

by livecement



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, as the name of the fic would suggest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 20:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10316198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livecement/pseuds/livecement
Summary: Akaashi and Bokuto's four-year-old daughter has a nightmare and they have to comfort her, as parents do.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published on Tumblr

It was in the dead hours of the night when Keiji woke up with a jolt. At first he was confused as to what had woken him, but just a moment later his brain finally registered the screaming coming from his daughter's bedroom. He was up in an instant, his body moving on autopilot, eyes bleary, and brain still not fully functional. Koutarou, a much lighter sleeper than Keiji, was already on his way out the door. Keiji followed after him, scratching at the scruff on his face—the product of being too tired to shave because he had a four-year-old that didn't sleep—doing his best to wake himself up and not stumble into the wall with every step down the dark hallway.

This had become a routine for them—their daughter had an overactive imagination and was prone to nightmares. Some nights they would wake to her calling and crying for them, and others Keiji would be pulled from sleep by the feeling of being watched, only to open his eyes and find a small child staring at him with wide eyes in the dark. It never got less frightening, and Keiji really wished that she would just shake him awake like a logical person. However, he'd learned the hard way not to scold her for it; nothing felt worse than making your daughter cry after she was already scared.

When they entered her room they found Tsubasa sitting up and crying in her bed, illuminated by the soft blue of her nightlight. While Koutarou went to tend to her, Keiji did a quick scan of the room: he ducked down and checked under her bed before going to check her closet. This was also part of the routine. If they didn't check, their daughter wouldn't believe them that nothing was there. With that out of the way, he went to join Koutarou, who was knelt beside the bed with one arm around Tsubasa and the other stroking her hair.

"Shh, Tsuuuuchan, you're okay. You're okay," he cooed. 

She continued to cry and shake in Koutarou's hold, tears streaking down her poor little face.

"Tsubasa, sweetheart, what's wrong?" Keiji asked, rubbing her blanketed legs in an attempt to soothe her. 

She sniffed and hicced, her hands balled up in small fists, clutching her blankets.

"I ha-ad a bad dream," she said in her tiny voice, "There was a scary lady in my closet and she—" her words started to speed up and stumble together as she got more worked up.

"Hey, hey, shhhh." Koutarou pulled her closer to him. "You're okay now. Nothing's gonna hurt you."

"I checked the closet already, and there was no one there," Keiji promised.

"Yeah," Koutarou said, "and if there were, your daddies would beat them up."

"No scary ladies allowed here, okay?"

Tsubasa sniffled and nodded, but still looked only somewhat convinced. A part of Keiji wanted to just tell her to go back to sleep and leave like his parents used to on the rare occurrence that he actually dreamed, he needed to sleep so badly, but he was far more empathetic than his parents and loved his daughter far too much to do that. There was also no way that Koutarou would let him get away with it. So, Keiji reached up and wiped the tears from his daughter's eyes and continued to tell her that she was going to be okay while Koutarou pressed kisses into her hair.

After a few more minutes of coddling, Tsubasa finally seemed to calm down.

"Alright little one," Koutarou said as he stood up, lifting Tsubasa out of bed with him. "You can sleep with us tonight."

"No, no!" Tsubasa cried, squirming in Koutarou's arms.

Oh, for the love of god, Keiji just wanted to go back to bed. He stood up, put a hand on her back, and said, "You have to, Tsubasa," as gently as he could.

"No, no, no!"

Keiji took a deep, deep breath. "Why won't you sleep?"

She tucked her face into Koutarou's neck and answered, "I don't want to dream again."

"Oh, sweetheart," Keiji sighed and rubbed her back. He didn't have anything to say to that. Koutarou had once explained to him that it didn't matter to a four-year-old that the dreams weren't real; they just knew that they were scared. Keiji wished that he could make his little girl's nightmares go away so that she could sleep without being afraid, and so that _he_ could sleep in peace for once in his life as a parent.

"You gotta sleep, Tsuchan," Koutarou tried, resting his cheek on top of her head and swaying side to side, "You won't feel good if you don't."

"No, Daddy, no," she whimpered, "Please."

They were never going to sleep again.

"You have preschool tomorrow." Keiji smoothed down her hair in an attempt to soften his next words; "I'm sorry, but you just have to try."

And then she was crying again.

"Nooo, Papa I caaan't!"

His husband gave him a _look_ so he stepped back, feeling helpless and inadequate.

He watched Tsubasa cling to Koutarou as he tried to soothe her again, petting her hair and singing to her like he'd done since she was a baby. It didn't take long for the tears to stop, and once they did Koutarou lifted her head so that he could speak to her.

"Hey," he said with a smile, taking her hand in his own, "how about you come with me and Papa to our room, and we can put on a movie to watch?"

When Keiji opened his mouth to protest, Koutarou winked at him, so he kept quiet.

"We can watch your favourite, hm?" He wiggled her arm. "Sound good?"

Their daughter thought for a moment and then nodded her head. "Sounds good."

"Alright!" Koutarou cheered, "To the bedroom!"

Koutarou started marching forward, pausing a moment to plant a kiss on Keiji's cheek while Tsubasa giggled, and then continued toward the door.

"Come on, Papa!" he called on the way out, "We've got a movie to watch!"

 Keiji felt something akin to fondness start to bloom in his chest, but the feeling quickly died with the way his head spun when he turned around to follow them. He wondered if Chikara would be able to manage a ten hour shoot without him tomorrow.

When he stepped into his and Koutarou's room, Tsubasa was planted smack-dab in the middle of their bed watching Koutarou set up the movie.

"Come on," Keiji said with a yawn as he approached the bed, "Under the covers."

His daughter crawled up the bed and slipped her legs under the blankets. Keiji adjusted the pillows so that they were propped up enough to see the TV screen but still vertical enough to sleep, and then slid under the covers as well.

Once the movie was going, volume set blessedly low, Koutarou switched off the light and then crawled into bed on the other side of Tsubasa. He lifted an arm for her to cuddle up to him like she usually did when they watched movies, but she ignored him and snuggled up to Keiji instead. Koutarou didn't complain, just sidled up close and draped his arm over the both of them.

With his daughter tucked up against his side, and his hand resting on his husband's arm, Keiji stared at the cartoon dinosaurs on the screen. However, it wasn't long before his eyelids started to droop and each blink took longer than the one before it, until finally he let his eyes close completely. And then, not a moment later, there was a tiny hand on his face, pulling at the skin under his eye.

"You can't watch the movie with your eyes closed Papa," his sweet, sweet little girl that he loved so much whispered.  

"Right," he mumbled and forced his eyes open.

About ten minutes of the movie passed, and as much as Keiji tried, he just could not keep his eyes open. He glanced down at Tsubasa expecting to see bright golden eyes wide and awake, but by some form of black magic, she was passed right out.

"When did that happen," he murmured.

"About three minutes ago," Koutarou whispered, keeping his eyes on the TV, "This movie always knocks her out when she's tired."

"But it's her favourite."

"Yeah," Koutarou looked up at him, "So it's comforting."

"Oh."

Koutarou breathed a short, quiet laugh. "Go to sleep baby, you're exhausted."

"Mm'okay." His eyes were already closed and his thoughts were already drifting.

"Goodnight," he may or may not have heard.

"Mm'yagdnt."

 

When he woke up to his alarm the next morning he felt like death had warmed over. Tsubasa squirmed beside him and scrunch up her face, making some sort of confused noise.

It was adorable.

"Shhh," he whispered, stroking her cheek with the backs of his fingers, "Go back to sleep sweetheart."

She made another feint sound and then her face relaxed as she drifted off again.

Keiji continued to stroke the soft skin of her cheek until he was certain she was asleep. Koutarou would be up with her in another hour to take her to preschool, so she needed all the rest she could get after the night they had. Although, with Koutarou's reputation, Keiji doubted that he'd even make her go.

That was fine. When it came down to it, her wellbeing was more important than school. They'd figure out how to deal with the nightmares eventually.

At least Keiji really, desperately hoped so.

 

* * *

 

 

**Cut Scene:**

 

"Whah?" Koutarou whined, "No cuddles for me?"

Tsubasa shook her head. "I need Papa to keep the scary lady away."

Koutarou pouted. "And you don't think I can do that?"

"You're strong Daddy," she said matter-of-factly, "but Papa just has to look at a monster to scare it away."

There was a beat of silence and then Koutarou was howling with laughter.

"I-is that—" more laughter—"so?"

"What?" Tsubasa looked between them. "Why is that funny?" Then she blinked up innocently at Keiji. "I just mean that you have a sometimes scary face Papa."

"Thank you, Tsubasa," he sighed, and then heard more snickering from the other side of the bed, "Koutarou watch the movie."

 

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr


End file.
